


Mourning The No Longer Dead

by Mathemagician



Series: The Year That Never Was Fest [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Panic Attacks, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mathemagician/pseuds/Mathemagician
Summary: Jack receives a late-night phone call from MarthaFor The Year That Never Was Fest prompt Grief
Relationships: Jack Harkness & Martha Jones
Series: The Year That Never Was Fest [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078169
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: The Year That Never Was Fest





	Mourning The No Longer Dead

Jack blinked awake at the sound of his phone beeping next to him. He frowned, the only person with an enjoyable reason to be calling so late was currently asleep next to him. He reached over and flipped it open without bothering to check the caller ID.  
"Jack?" Martha asked, panic in her voice.  
"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong?" he scrambled out of bed, heading for Ianto's living room.  
"There was this woman at the hotel. I knew her, I saw her-- she was killed. And she's fine, she's alive but I watched her die, she had kids, two little boys. And they killed them. I remember she tried to fight them off, tried to keep them away from her boys but she couldn't. Oh god Jack, their screams, I can't get them out of my head."  
"Hey, hey, it's okay Martha. Slow down, you're hyperventilating, nice slow breaths ok." He grabbed his t-shirt off the back of the couch, pulling it on without putting down the phone, listening to Martha try to calm her breathing. "The hotel isn't far from here, I'll be there in a few minutes."  
"You don't have to do that," she protested weakly, "I'll be fine, it's not like there's any actual danger."  
"It's not a problem. I'm already on my way." He grabbed a pair of Ianto's jeans of the back of the chair in his room, holding the phone with his shoulder as he pulled them on.  
"Stealing my clothes now?" Ianto asked, rubbing his eyes.  
"I was trying not to wake you up, didn't want to turn the light on."  
"'S everything ok? Do we need to go save Cardiff from something with no respect for work hours?"  
"Everything's fine, I promise. Go back to sleep."  
"'Mkay," Ianto hummed and rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head. "Say 'hi' to Martha for me," he mumbled into the pillow.  
Jack laughed softly, "Ianto says 'hi.'"

"Hi Jack," Martha forced a smile when she opened the door, waving him in as she curled back up on the sofa in the corner of the room. Jack sat next to her and squeezed her shoulder gently, wrapping an arm around her. He was struck by how much younger she looked, in pyjama bottoms and a loose t-shirt, her hair hanging loose, and a duvet she'd dragged off the bed wrapped around her. She leant into his touch, resting her head on his shoulder and lacing their fingers together.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"It's silly really. I've probably walked past hundreds of people I saw dead, don't know why she got to me so much, I've never recognised someone like that before."  
"Not silly," Jack murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You saw so many terrible things no one should have seen and I'm so sorry you had to do that."  
"You didn't exactly have an easy time either," she mumbled into his shoulder.  
"Oh, it wasn't that bad. I had that lovely sister of yours to keep me company."  
"She told me what he did to you, Jack."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah."  
"The pain wasn't the worst part. After a while pain is just pain. It was watching the death count rise and knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it. I don't like being useless."  
"You kept my family safe," she looked up at him, "Tish told me you kept his attention away from them, that they were safe because of you."  
"I did my best."  
"Thank you. It's bad enough remembering what happened to all those people I didn't even know, if he'd done anything-- if he'd killed my family..."  
"He didn't," Jack tightened his arm around her. "No one died, because you, Martha Jones, saved the world."  
She smiled softly, "I did." She stifled a yawn, snuggling further into Jack's shoulder.  
"Ready to sleep now?" Jack asked. Martha nodded, slowly uncurling off the sofa, taking hold of Jack's hand as she stood, and climbed into the bed. Jack followed, taking the duvet from around her shoulders and spreading it over them, and lay next to her, pulling her into his side.  
He pressed a kiss to her temple, "Night Martha."  
"Night Jack."


End file.
